1. Field
The present invention relates to communications in a wireline or a wireless communication system. More particularly, the present invention relates to a method and system for a dynamic adjustment of a data request channel in such a communication system.
2. Background
Communication systems have been developed to allow transmission of information signals from an origination station to a physically distinct destination station. In transmitting an information signal from the origination station over a communication channel, the information signal is first converted into a form suitable for efficient transmission over the communication channel. Conversion, or modulation, of the information signal involves varying a parameter of a carrier wave in accordance with the information signal in such a way that the spectrum of the resulting modulated carrier wave is confined within the communication channel bandwidth. At the destination station, the original information signal is reconstructed from the modulated carrier wave received over the communication channel. In general, such a reconstruction is achieved by using an inverse of the modulation process employed by the origination station.
Modulation also facilitates multiple-access, i.e., simultaneous transmission and/or reception, of several signals over a common communication channel. Multiple-access communication systems often include a plurality of remote subscriber units requiring intermittent access of relatively short duration rather than continuous access to the common communication channel. Several multiple-access techniques are known in the art, such as time division multiple-access (TDMA), and frequency division multiple-access (FDMA). Another type of a multiple-access technique is a code-division multiple-access (CDMA) spread spectrum system that conforms to the “TIA/EIA/IS-95 Mobile Station-Base Station Compatibility Standard for Dual-Mode Wide-Band Spread Spectrum Cellular System,” hereinafter referred to as the IS-95 standard. The use of CDMA techniques in a multiple-access communication system is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,901,307, entitled “SPREAD SPECTRUM MULTIPLE-ACCESS COMMUNICATION SYSTEM USING SATELLITE OR TERRESTRIAL REPEATERS,” and U.S. Pat. No. 5,103,459, entitled “SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR GENERATING WAVEFORMS IN A CDMA CELLULAR TELEPHONE SYSTEM,” both assigned to the present assignee.
A multiple-access communication system may be wireless or wireline and may carry voice traffic and/or data traffic. An example of a communication system carrying both voice and data traffic is a system in accordance with the IS-95 standard, which specifies transmitting voice and data traffic over a communication channel. A method for transmitting data in code channel frames of fixed size is described in detail in U.S. Pat. No. 5,504,773, entitled “METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR THE FORMATTING OF DATA FOR TRANSMISSION,” assigned to the present assignee. In accordance with the IS-95 standard, the data traffic or voice traffic is partitioned into code channel frames that are 20 milliseconds wide with data rates as high as 14.4 Kbps. Additional examples of communication systems carrying both voice and data traffic comprise communication systems conforming to the “3rd Generation Partnership Project” (3GPP), embodied in a set of documents including Document Nos. 3G TS 25.211, 3G TS 25.212, 3G TS 25.213, and 3G TS 25.214 (the W-CDMA standard), or “TR-45.5 Physical Layer Standard for cdma2000 Spread Spectrum Systems” (the IS-2000 standard).
The term base station is an access network entity, with which subscriber stations communicate. With reference to the IS-856 standard, the base station is also referred to as an access point. Cell refers to the base station or a geographic coverage area served by a base station, depending on the context in which the term is used. A sector is a partition of a base station, serving a partition of a geographic area served by the base station.
The term “subscriber station” is the entity with which an access network communicates. With reference to the IS-856 standard, the base station is also referred to as an access terminal. A subscriber station may be mobile or stationary. A subscriber station may be any data device that communicates through a wireless channel or through a wired channel, for example fiber optic or coaxial cables. A subscriber station may further be any of a number of types of devices including but not limited to PC card, compact flash, external or internal modem, or wireless or wireline phone. A subscriber station that is in the process of establishing an active traffic channel connection with a base station is said to be in a connection setup state. A subscriber station that has established an active traffic channel connection with a base station is called an active subscriber station, and is said to be in a traffic state.
The term access network is a collection of at least one base station (BS) and one or more base stations' controllers. The access network transports information signals between multiple subscriber stations. The access network may be further connected to additional networks outside the access network, such as a corporate intranet or the Internet, and may transport information signals between each base station and such outside networks.
In the above-described multiple-access wireless communication system, communications between users are conducted through one or more base stations. The term user refers to both animate and inanimate entities. A first user on one wireless subscriber station communicates to a second user on a second wireless subscriber station by conveying information signal on a reverse link to a base station. The base station receives the information signal and conveys the information signal on a forward link to the second subscriber station. If the second subscriber station is not in the area served by the base station, the base station routes the data to another base station, in whose service area the second subscriber station is located. The second base station then conveys the information signal on a forward link to the second subscriber station. The forward link refers to transmissions from a base station to a wireless subscriber station and the reverse link refers to transmissions from a wireless subscriber station to a base station. Likewise, the communication can be conducted between a first user on a wireless subscriber station and a second user on a landline station. A base station receives the data from the first user on the wireless subscriber station on a reverse link, and routes the data through a public switched telephone network (PSTN) to the second user on a landline station. In many communication systems, e.g., IS-95, W-CDMA, and IS-2000, the forward link and the reverse link are allocated separate frequencies.
Study of voice traffic only services and data traffic only services revealed some substantial differences between the two types of services, e.g., requirements on delay in delivery of the information content, grade of service (GOS), a reliability of a communication link, and other known differences.
The above-mentioned differences lead to a development of a data traffic only communication system, e.g., a communication system known as the High Data Rate (HDR) communication system. Such a communication system is disclosed in detail in co-pending application Ser. No. 08/963,386, entitled “METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR HIGH RATE PACKET DATA TRANSMISSION,” filed Nov. 3, 1997, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,574,211, issued Jun. 3, 2003, assigned to the present assignee. The HDR communication system was standardized as a TIA/EIA/IS-856 industry standard hereinafter referred to as the IS-856 standard.
The IS-856 standard defines a set of data rates, ranging from 38.4 kbps to 2.4 Mbps, at which an access point (AP) may send data to a subscriber station (access terminal). Because the access point is analogous to a base station, the terminology with respect to cells and sectors is the same as with respect to voice systems. In accordance with the IS-856 standard, the data to be transmitted over the forward link are partitioned into data packets, with each data packet being transmitted over one or more intervals (time-slots), into which the forward link is divided. The term packet is a group of bits, including data (payload) and control elements, arranged into a specific format. The control elements comprise, e.g., a preamble, a quality metric, and others known to one skilled in the art. Quality metric comprises, e.g., a cyclical redundancy check (CRC), a parity bit, and other quality metrics known to one skilled in the art. At each time-slot, data transmission occurs from an access point to one and only one access terminal, located within the coverage area of the access point, at the maximum data rate that can be supported by the forward link and the communication system. The access terminal is selected in accordance with forward link conditions between the access point and an access terminal. The forward link conditions depend on interference and path loss between an access point and an access terminal, both of which are time-variant. The path loss and the variation of the path loss are exploited by scheduling the access point's transmissions at time intervals, during which the access terminal's forward link conditions to a particular access point satisfy determined criteria that allow for transmissions with less power or higher rate of data than transmissions to the remaining access terminals, thus improving spectral efficiency of forward link transmissions. Even if a transmission from an access point to an access terminal fails, because of relaxed transmission delay requirement, as compared to a voice services, the transmit power and resources used to support soft handoff on the forward link can be used for transmission of additional data, thus, increasing average throughput rate by increasing efficiency.
In contrast, according to the IS-856 standard, data transmissions on the reverse link occur from multiple access terminals located within a coverage area of an access point. Furthermore, because the access terminals' antenna patterns are omni-directional, any access terminal within the coverage area of the access point may receive these data transmissions. Consequently, the reverse link transmissions are subjected to several sources of interference: code-division multiplexed overhead channels of other access terminals, data transmissions from access terminals located in the coverage area of the access point (same-cell access terminals), and data transmissions from access terminals located in the coverage area of other access points (other-cell access terminals). Because re-transmission of packets from a subscriber station requires additional power from a power limited source (a battery), it may be efficient to support soft handoff on the reverse link by allocating resources at several base stations to receive and process the data packets transmitted from the subscriber station. Such a utilization of soft handoff increases both coverage and reverse link capacity as discussed in a paper by Andrew J. Viterbi and Klein S. Gilhousen: “Soft Handoff Increases CDMA coverage and Increases Reverse Link Capacity,” IEEE Journal on Selected Areas in Communications, Vol. 12, No. 8, October 1994. The term soft handoff is a communication between a subscriber station and two or more sectors, wherein each sector belongs to a different cell. In the context of the IS-856 standard, data transmission on the forward link is non-simultaneously carried out between one of the two or more sectors and the access terminal.
Additionally, a softer handoff may be used for this purpose. The term softer handoff is a communication between a subscriber station and two or more sectors, wherein each sector belongs to the same cell. In the context of the IS-856 standard, data transmission on the forward link is non-simultaneously carried out between one of the two or more sectors and the access terminal.
In a communication system in accordance with the IS-856 standard, an Access Terminal indicates an estimate of the highest data rate on a forward link between an Access Point and the Access Terminal to the Access Network via a data request (DRC) channel transmitted over a reverse link. An access point that is selected for data communication the access terminal or an access point that is communicating data to the particular access terminal is serving access point. To maximize forward link utilization, an access terminal attempts to select an access point having a best quality metric of the forward link as determined at the access terminal. The DRC channel has a margin, designed to assure correct reception of the DRC channel for varying conditions on the reverse link. However, the margin cannot be infinite, consequently, if the reverse link conditions worsen beyond the condition under which the DRC channel can be sustained given the margin, correct reception of the DRC channel cannot be assured. Consequently, the access terminal may select an access point with lower quality metric forward link—an event referred to as imbalance. Even in situations unaffected by imbalance, a high erasure rate of the DRC channel may result in underutilization of the forward link. The term erasure is a failure to recognize a message.
Therefore, there is a need in the art to provide a method and an apparatus to minimize the occurrence of imbalance and underutilization of forward link.
The above and further features of the invention are set forth with particularity in the appended claims and together with advantages thereof will become clearer form considerations of the following detailed description of embodiments of the invention given by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings.